Thesis Defense: Steven Yang defends his thesis and presents at AIChE and IDweek!

Congratulations to Steven Yang for a successful thesis defense! Steven presented polymyxin B-phage conjugates as a way to greatly increase potency and reduce toxicity of the nephrotoxic antibiotic polymyxin B. He also presented his work at IDweek and AIChE in 2024....
Reviews: promiscuous ribozymes, HTS, and fitness landscapes

Reviews: promiscuous ribozymes, HTS, and fitness landscapes

It is tempting to imagine that, during the origin of life, the earliest catalytic RNAs would be so simple that they would be rather non-specific in activity or substrates. Then, evolution might create variants that would become optimized for different activities...

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Controlled phage therapy

Controlled phage therapy

Phages have been considered for antibacterial therapy ever since they were discovered in the early 20th century. However, significant concerns about their self-replicating, evolving nature have been difficult to avoid. For example,  phages can spread antibiotic...

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RNA on the early earth: damaged by light, helped by vesicles

RNA on the early earth: damaged by light, helped by vesicles

RNA is widely agreed to be an early, if not the earliest, molecular basis for life. However, conditions on the early Earth were not terribly hospitable. While high-energy photons are important for prebiotic synthesis, they also damage nucleic acids. Postdoctoral...

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